Generally, shoes feature an inner sole with a smooth structure. Underneath, the inner sole is provided with a pad of minimal height at least in certain sections, e.g., in the area of the heel and/or the ball of the foot, in order to provide a “softer” step for the person wearing the shoe.
Furthermore, footwear is known that is designated as bathing shoes or slip-on shoes. Generally, these can be distinguished by a strap or crosspiece that runs over the top of the foot and which attaches the shoe to the person's foot. Such footwear often consists of extruded or foamed plastic and is often formed in one piece. Furthermore, there is footwear in the form of several pieces with a sole, e.g., consisting of leather or wood, and with a bump-like structure being formed on this sole. Due to the bump-like structure, when the person wearing the shoe walks, his or her sole is massaged by the bumps, which generates good, beneficial blood circulation in the feet of the person wearing the shoes.
Shoes with smooth inner soles are disadvantageous in that they exert absolutely no massaging effect on the feet of the person wearing the shoes. For shoes with bump-like, foot-massaging structures, the problem always arises that the intermediate spaces between the bumps can become filled with dirt particles. In addition, perspiration secreted by the foot can settle into these intermediate spaces. The substance formed by the dirt and perspiration between the bumps eventually leads to an unpleasant odor and possibly to foot diseases due to fungal bacteria, etc.
The problem of the invention is to create a shoe of the type mentioned in the introduction, which can produce a relatively strong foot-massaging effect and which simultaneously provides essentially odor- and dirt-free use of the shoe.
The problem is solved according to the invention by means of a pad, which is arranged in the interior of the shoe above the sole, which contains a massaging element and/or medicinal agents, and which consists of a flexible base plate adapted to the shape of the sole on the bottom side and on the top side an elastic protective nonwoven fabric rigidly connected to the base plate.
It is known that the sole of a person is divided into different reflex zones. Medically, there exists a direct connection between the individual foot reflex zones and the organs or body parts of the person. Targeted massaging at certain foot reflex zones has a direct effect on the health of the corresponding body part or organ. The pad containing the massaging element and/or medicinal agents provides continuous massaging of the sole of the person wearing the shoe while the shoe is on the foot. The continuous massaging of the sole of the person positively stimulates the well-being of the person. This can be realized especially well by the effect of the sole massage promoting blood circulation. The elastic nonwoven fabric, which is arranged on the top side of the massaging element and/or the medicinal agents and which is rigidly connected to the flexible base plate, prevents the penetration of foot perspiration and dirt into the pad, which provides for odor-free use of the shoe.
Preferably, a cap that releases medicinal agents is arranged at the shoe tip in the interior of the shoe. In this way, the medicinal agents can act on the toes of the person wearing the shoe. The medicinal agent can exert an effect, e.g., a perspiration-blocking function and/or a heating function. The cap containing the medicinal agents can be inserted into the interior of the shoe by the manufacturer during production or at a later time.
According to a first configuration of the shoe according to the invention, the massaging element is formed as a plurality of bumps, which are arranged on the base plate in uniform or offset rows. Just a plurality of regular or irregular bumps provides an especially effective massaging of the soles, because the heads of the bumps easily press into the soles at point contacts and the massaging effect is generated by the rolling of the foot during walking. Furthermore, the bumps are formed in one piece with the base plate. In this way, the base plate and the bumps are produced in a simple way, e.g., through injection molding. Advantageously, the bumps have the shape of hemispheres with their rounded part pointing into the interior of the shoe.
According to a second configuration of the invention, the massaging element is formed as a plurality of balls, which are arranged loosely and irregularly or in uniform or offset rows on the base plate. In principle, the balls have the same effect as the previously mentioned bumps; however, the balls can move in the pad of the shoe, which causes additional rolling of the balls as the foot rolls while the person wearing the shoe is walking, which has an additional stimulating effect on the sole. Depending on the arrangement of the balls in the pad, namely, loosely or irregularly or in uniform or offset rows, a different massaging effect of the sole can be achieved.
Preferably, the balls are embedded in an elastic material and/or connected together by an elastic material. The balls can be maintained for a long time without loss of the massaging effect on the sole both due to the embedding in the elastic material and also the connection to the elastic material, which is realized, e.g., by means of elastic crosspieces that connect to the ends of the balls. Here, the balls can be arranged in one plane with the shape of grapes.
Advantageously, the material of the balls and the elastic material exhibit the same or different Shore hardness values. The massaging effect of the soles can be influenced by the corresponding material pairing. Obviously, the elastic material can be totally different from the material used to produce the balls. Thus, the invention can deal with different materials.
In order to effectively counteract abrasion of the balls, preferably the balls are provided with a sliding coating on their surface. The sliding coating can be deposited, e.g., after production of the balls or set in the material during production of the balls. Obviously, the use of a sliding-promoting material for the production of the balls is also suitable.
For a refinement of the pad containing the balls, the heel contains a valve device, which is connected to the interior of the pad filled with the balls. Preferably, the valve device is formed as a one-way valve with ventilation openings formed in the upper material of the shoe. Because the balls in the interior of the pad constantly move and change their position while the person wearing the shoe is walking, a constant low pressure is created in the pad, which continuously changes its position within the pad while the person is walking. This can be perceived as pleasant or also as unpleasant by the person wearing the shoe. The valve now provides the possibility of suctioning surrounding air due to the low pressure in the pad while the person is walking as a compressed medium and guiding the air into the interior of the pad, so that a “softer” step is perceived by the person wearing the shoe. For each step, a high pressure is generated in the pad in turn at each pressure point, which is equalized by guiding air through the ventilation openings in the upper material of the shoe. While the person is walking, surrounding air is thus constantly suctioned, led into the interior of the pad, and then guided through the ventilation openings of the shoe. This realizes a doubled massaging effect, on the one hand, by the balls, and, on the other hand, by the unloaded positions of the pad filled with compressed air. The arrangement of a large air cushion and thus the effect of a “softer” step can also be supported by forming a flexible, expandable chamber in the heel between the ventilation device and the pad filled with balls. The flexible chamber features an increased volume for storing surrounding air, which creates an increase of the air volume in the pad containing the balls.
In order to prevent damage to the chamber formed in the heel of the shoe due to material wear and tear and use of the shoe, the flexible, expandable chamber is separated on the bottom side by a solid protective plate from the lower region of the heel or the sole. In this way, the heel arranged underneath the protective plate can be replaced when necessary.
If the pad arranged in the interior of the shoe is filled with medicinal agents, then the pad can be filled with medicinal agents by means of a valve device arranged in the heel. Here, this valve arrangement is likewise built as a one-way valve. Therefore, when necessary, a medicinal agent can be refilled, e.g., by means of a nozzle, when the agent has been partially or completely consumed over the course of time. In addition, an alternative medicinal agent can also be filled into the pad in order to achieve a different medical effect.
So that the medicinal agent located in the pad can be guided into the shoe interior and thus onto the sole of the person wearing the shoe, the protective nonwoven fabric has a plurality of small pores.
According to an alternative configuration of the shoe according to the invention, the pad is formed as an insert for loose insertion into the shoe. In this way, any shoe can be provided with a pad customized for the person wearing the shoe by inserting a corresponding insert into the shoe. If desired, the insert can also be removed or replaced by a different insert at any time.
Furthermore, the cap containing the medicinal agents can be inserted into the tip of the shoe separately or as a component of the pad formed as an insert. In this way, an insertion or exchange of the cap containing the medicinal agents is possible, likewise at any time, into and out of the shoe. Obviously, the cap is likewise provided with a plurality of small pores. Advantageously, the insert is formed with or without a footbed.
For another advantageous configuration of a pad provided with balls, a flexible spring band surrounds the pad on the inner edge of the pad. The flexible spring band enables a complete filling of the pad with balls, which are pressed into the flexible spring band at the edges due to loading while the person wearing the shoe is walking. Therefore, despite the total filling of the pad, the balls have a certain freedom of motion to generate the massaging effect.
Furthermore, as previously explained in general with reference to the shoe, the insert can also have a valve device, which is located in the region of the heel, which is formed as a one-way valve, and which is connected to the interior of the insert or the chamber, so that the insert can be provided with a compressed medium and also with a medicinal agent.
The bumps of the pad or the insert are further formed so that they are hollow and connected to the flexible chamber. Here, the head of each bump is formed as a pressure cap. Through this configuration of the bumps, a better massaging effect is achieved with the bump heads, which press into the sole of the person wearing the shoe under loading and return to their original position again after the loading.
In addition, the bumps can be assembled into several bump bands. This arrangement can produce very fine massaging effects on the soles of the person wearing the shoes. Preferably, the base plate of the pad has recesses in which the bump bands are placed so that the bands can move.
For another configuration of the shoe according to the invention, a motor is inserted in the heel of the sole. This motor has a driver arranged eccentric to the motor axis. The driver is connected flexibly to the bump bands. The motor can be turned on and off by means of a switch. An automatic start-up of the motor is also possible, e.g., due to loading or unloading of the heel of the shoe. The motor provides a massaging effect, in addition to that provided by the shape of the bumps, by moving the bump bands in the interior of the pad of the shoe back and forth. This back-and-forth motion is ensured by the eccentric arrangement of one or more drivers to the motor axis. Preferably, the motor is further operated by means of batteries, which are stored in the heel. Different massaging effects can be achieved by arranging the bump bands in the shoe in the longitudinal or perpendicular direction.
According to a third configuration of the shoe according to the invention, the massaging element includes a ball thread consisting of a continuous thread with balls loosely arranged in a line. This ball thread is inserted into the pad in the form of a spiral. This measure produces a defined guidance of the balls as the foot of the person wearing the shoe rolls while the person is walking, which has a positive effect on the massaging effect. Depending on the shape of the shoe and thus on the shape of the pad, at least one other thread equipped with loose balls is provided, and the ends of this thread are attached to the base plate or to the ball thread. In this way, practically the entire pad is filled with balls. For an alternative configuration, the massaging element includes rows arranged one next to the other each consisting of balls of a continuous thread loosely arranged in a line, with the ends of each thread attaching to the base plate. For both embodiments, a nonwoven fabric strip is preferably inserted in the edge regions of the pad not filled in by balls. The nonwoven fabric strips ensure a tight bundling of the balls.
For another configuration of the shoe according to the invention, the massaging element is formed as an elastic tube wound into a spiral shape, whose outer end is connected to an air inlet valve configured as a one-way valve and whose inner end is connected to a throttled air outlet. While the person wearing the shoe is walking, a low pressure is built up after time in the tube, and this low pressure opens the air inlet valve and thus guides air into the tube interior. Due to the throttled air outlet, this air can bleed out of the shoe interior only relatively slowly. In this way the tube produces a massaging effect on the sole. In order to provide free access of air to the air inlet valve, the air inlet valve is advantageously arranged behind an opening in the upright edge of the base plate.
It is understood that the previously mentioned features and the features still to be explained in the following can be used not only in the specified combination, but also in other combinations without leaving the scope of the present invention.